Question: What is shared parenting?
Answer: The concept of shared parenting is one wherein the parents split the care of the child into blocks of time usually fairly equally and share joint custody and guardianship. In this model they both remain equal partners in raising the child. This sort of arrangement can be challenging but beneficial for the child because both parents maintain an active role in the day-to-day life of the child. For this situation to work the parents must be able to communicate very effectively, live in close proximity so they can easily transport the child to school and between households and both have a work schedule computable with a large time commitment for the child. The child as well must be able to cope physically and emotionally with having two primary homes. These sorts of arrangements are becoming more frequent and should be given consideration when both parents have been very active in the lives of their children.
A parenting arrangement is a plan related to how guardians of children (usually the child’s parents) will look after a child. It can be as detailed or as general as required but it will generally include directions either by agreement or court order as to where the child will reside, who will have day to day control of the child, how the child will be looked after, where they will go to school, what exposure the child will have to various culture inputs, who will see the child and how frequently and in what circumstances and what sporting and extra-curricular activities the child will be involved in.